Twisted Fates
by inukagome15
Summary: Sequel to "A Strange Adventure". Full summary inside. A twist in fate makes it so that Kagome never fell through the well. Inuyasha is on the tree, Miroku is doomed, Sango has her family, and Shippo has his father. Can a certain friend help them fix it? ABANDONED. Apologies, but I really can't.
1. Prologue

**Before anybody presses the back button, I would appreciate it if you take a look at my first story, the prequel to this one: A Strange Adventure. The OC in the story is not a Mary Sue. While I do admit that the writing in the first story could have been better, it was my first fanfic. This is my eleventh or so and therefore the plotting will be much better.**

**A Strange Adventure:** OC. When a girl is found in the mist running from a strange shadow and rescued by Inuyasha and the gang, they never dreamed that it would turn out to be so much trouble. Now, they are struggling for their lives in an epic battle with the girl's strange enemies, who are neither human or demon, but something entirely different.

**Twisted Fates:** Sequel to A Strange Adventure. **Summary**: There has been a twist in the fabric of the world between the worlds. Not a big problem, right? Wrong. Inuyasha and the gang never met up thanks to the world between the worlds interfering with the Bone Eater's Well. Inuyasha is still stuck on the tree, Miroku is doomed, Sango has her family, Shippo lives with his father, and Kagome never heard of the feudal era. When Miya finds out, it's up to her to figure out how to get the gang together again and fix the problem.

**It's been a while, I know. I was busy with other stuff. On the bright side, it was only a couple of months. In any case, here's the sequel to A Strange Adventure! I have the second chapter already written out. REVIEW please!  
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**DISCLAIMER: I don't own _InuYasha_, although Miya and all her abilities belong to me.  
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**Chapter 1: Prologue**

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It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the leaves were green, the flowers colorful, and the air…stinky. Not far away from the gorgeous park was a dirty city with garbage strewn about and cars belching smoke. Despite this stark difference, though, the park was almost empty save for one person.

A dark-haired girl in jeans and a navy sweater sat cross-legged under a tree. She was frowning slightly, as if something was bothering her. Perhaps it was the air…

In any case, Miya was meditating, breathing in and out slowly. The meditation was for focusing her abilities, which had been acting up as of lately and needed fine-tuning. The only place where she could get peace and quiet was the park, which wasn't very quiet anyway because of the noise of the city not far away.

However, soon even the relative silence of the park was shattered when a loud yowl and a barking pierced the air. Miya's eyes snapped open, revealing a startling pair of blue irises. She looked faintly disgruntled at being interrupted before realizing how late it was by the shadows stretching across the ground.

She got up and stretched, touching the grass between her feet momentarily before standing up and blinking at the tall buildings just above the trees. Shaking her head and muttering something incomprehensible under her breath, Miya set off to the dirty city that she hated with a passion.

'_Of all the places that world could dump me in, it __**had**__ to dump me here._' She trudged right by some overflowing dumpsters and turned right out of the alley, mingling with the pedestrians that were bustling along to somewhere. She ignored the thoughts barraging her from all sides, simply shutting them out.

Still grumbling about her luck, Miya made her way to a rather rundown apartment. There was no one else in the halls but one could hear shouting and glass shattering from behind some of the doors. Miya winced as a particularly vile curse reached her ears.

'_Just another day in the year 3205 about ways the Earth can go bad._' She flopped down on the bed, the springs creaking and the mattress sagging dangerously. It didn't bother her. '_The environment here isn't helpful when it comes to meditating. It's keeping me from finding out what's bothering me._'

Frowning at the cracks in the ceiling did absolutely nothing to solve her problem or alleviate the pounding headache she had been carrying for the last few days. All her senses were on high alert and the extra stress from being in such a noisy place both mentally and physically wasn't helping. She sighed once before rolling over and closing her eyes. In several minutes she was asleep.

* * *

It was early morning when Miya woke up. She blinked slowly, processing everything around her at a rapid pace. As soon as the information was absorbed, Miya got up, seeming to reach for something before seeing what she had slept in.

She sighed, exasperated. "I have got to stop sleeping in my clothes."

Muttering about her lack of fortune and about only having one outfit to wear, Miya straightened them, pressed out the wrinkles, brushed her hair, and grabbed a loaf of dry bread to eat. She opened the door out of her apartment with a password in a foreign tongue and left the building, making her way to the park.

Once Miya had sat down under the tree, she took her time examining the scenery. '_If only figuring out what's giving me a headache would be as easy as getting myself dirty. It's obviously not just stress. I've done enough meditating to relieve the worst of tension. It's something outside of this reality. But what is it?_'

Miya sighed again, letting her thoughts drift back to the last adventure she had. '_I wonder how they're doing._'

Thinking about her friends back in feudal Japan made her depressed, so Miya shook those thoughts out of her head and focused on meditating. The sounds around her drifted away until they were a mere buzzing. Yet still the headache continued to pound her temples and made thinking painful. On top of that, her clothes were starting to get wet.

'_Wait… They're wet?_' Miya's eyes snapped open and she found herself in a dense fog. But there was something odd about it.

Miya got to her feet, taking a closer look at her surroundings. She knew exactly where she was: the world between the worlds, or the curtain that veiled everything and prevented the worlds from colliding. But something was different. It took another second for her to figure out what it was: The mist was twisting in odd directions as if there was wind snaking through it and disrupting it. The only problem with that theory was that there was no wind.

Miya frowned, inspecting the phenomenon more closely. '_It's like the world itself is twisting,_' she realized with a growing horror.

She felt something tugging at her clothes and turned, only to find the same force pulling at her whole body. Then there was something pushing at her mind, picking at her memories and threatening to erase them. The first few memories that came to mind were the ones of Inuyasha and the other friends she'd made in feudal Japan. Miya violently slammed her mind shut, protecting her memories ferociously. After that, the only thing she could do was hunch over and wait for the end.

--

It ended after what seemed like an eternity. Miya pried her fingers loose from her sweater and uncurled from her crouch. With that done, she inspected the world around her.

It felt strange. Even the mist looked different, swirling around in different patterns than what she was used to. Miya was distracted from this thought by a weight at her hip. She looked down to see a worn sheath with a hilt from a dagger poking out.

She unsheathed it slowly, looking with wonder at the gleaming blade. It was an exact replica of the one she'd lost almost a year ago. The one she'd lost when on the run from the wraith with the shard from the Shikon no Tama.

'_How is it possible? I lost this... I can't just get it back. Unless…_' A sudden suspicion igniting in her mind, Miya scrutinized the mist even more closely. She started to taste the area around her with her mind, feeling the flavor. It took a few seconds for the results to register.

The flavor was completely different. If she didn't know better, she would've thought that she wasn't even in the curtain.

'_What could have happened?_' Miya did a slow 360, stunned. '_What…?_'

She was broken out of her stunned state by an opening in the mist. At least that was one thing she was familiar with. There were green leaves visible and a small hut that Miya instantly recognized. It helped steady her mind.

'_All right. That settles it. It's time to go back._'

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**There we go. The situation has been set. While no one from _InuYasha_ was in here, it was just the prologue. The next chapter will have more meat in it. BTW, if any of you guys are confused about what's going on and why this story is put in the _InuYasha_ category, read the first story A Strange Adventure! That'll explain everything.**

**Would it be too much to ask for a review? Things will pick up in the next chapter! I'm not sure when I can upload that but I hope it will be soon.  
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	2. Different

**Sorry for taking so long! I've been busy and couldn't get around to this chapter. Chapter 3 is like...sort of written out. I haven't completed it. This chapter is slightly more interesting and around 3,600 words long. Hope you enjoy! Let me know if you see any mistakes or whatnot.**

**REVIEW PLEASE!  
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**DISCLAIMER: I do not own _InuYasha_ but I own Miya.**

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**Chapter 2: Different**

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The moment Miya jumped through the opening she found herself in an area surrounded by trees. The opening behind her had already closed, closing off any access to the curtain.

Not wanting to go back there anyway, Miya cautiously began walking among the trees to the hut she'd seen earlier. It soon appeared next to a familiar road that she had spent lots of time observing. It was Kaede's hut, although it seemed as if no one was home.

It didn't sway her. Miya went right up to it and knocked on the doorframe. Her efforts were rewarded by the appearance of an old woman with an eye patch.

Kaede blinked, seemingly surprised by the young woman she saw. "What can I do for ye, child?"

Miya smiled, only slightly put-off by the waves of unfamiliarity radiating off Kaede. "Hello, Kaede. Do you remember me?"

"I am sorry to say this but I have never seen the likes of ye before. Are ye a foreigner? And how is it ye knows my name?"

Miya was a bit more disconcerted now. "Do you not remember? I was there when Kagome went missing. You gave me a bow and a shaft full of arrows."

Kaede blinked, confused. "I can recall no such incident."

"What of Kagome?" Miya was thoroughly perplexed by now. What had happened since she'd left?

"I know no Kagome." Kaede shifted slightly.

Miya caught the old woman's thought. '_I need a bow and arrow._'

She tried her hand one more time. "Inuyasha?"

It was the last straw. Miya found herself being threatened by an arrow at her throat. Only sheer force of will had stopped her from drawing her dagger and defending herself.

"What do ye want with Inuyasha, youkai?" Kaede asked, holding the string of her bow taut. "Ye cannot free him."

"Free him? Why would he need to be freed? He was fine when I saw him last."

Miya's questions weren't answered by words but by images. She could see a dark-haired woman looking almost like Kagome shoot an arrow towards Inuyasha. It struck and pinned him to a tree. The scene seemed oddly familiar to Miya, although she couldn't tell why.

But nowhere in the old woman's memories were there any signs of her other friends.

"Ye should be careful what ye speak of, youkai," Kaede said finally, moving the set arrow closer to Miya's throat.

It didn't faze Miya at all. Her mind was searching for ways to prove to Kaede that she was a human. "Have me touch some sutras or prayer beads," Miya requested. "I'll prove that I'm not a youkai but a human."

Kaede said nothing. Instead, she reached into her robe and drew out some innocent looking pieces of paper. Mia reached forward, acknowledging the unspoken consent and touching them. There was no reaction.

Kaede studied Miya for a few more moments before putting the sutras and her weapon away. She nodded and let Miya into her hut. There was a pot happily boiling away with a delicious smell coming out of it. Miya suspected that she had interrupted Kaede in the middle of cooking lunch.

"I am sorry for suspecting ye so, child, but these are dangerous times," Kaede apologized, kneeling by the pot and stirring it.

"I understand," Miya said, meaning it. She sat down on the opposite side. "Besides, what I said did sound pretty crazy."

"I know no not what 'crazy' means," Kaede said, "but most mentions of Inuyasha come with youkais and not humans."

Miya remained quiet, simply studying whatever was cooking in the pot. '_Something has completely and utterly changed. How is it that Kaede doesn't know of Kagome and Inuyasha? Or even Shippo? Could it be…?_' She thought back to the weird behavior of the world between the worlds. '_Something went wrong there. I have to find out what._'

Finally, she decided to make up a story. "I heard of Inuyasha in a legend. He was supposed to have been traveling with a group of humans who were aiming to defeat Naraku. I thought I'd join them."

"The legend ye heard of speaks nothing but falsehoods," Kaede said. "Inuyasha remains pinned to a tree: the Goshinboku."

"Could you tell me the story?"

Kaede let the pot be and sat back, staring into the distance as she began her tale. "My elder sister Kikyou was a powerful priestess. It was this power that led to the Shikon no Tama being placed here under her protection. But it brought nothing but pain and death.

"Fifty years ago Kikyou found a badly injured bandit by the name of Onigumo. Because of her kind nature she cared for him and I helped her gather medicines. While Kikyou always believed that people had good in their hearts, I found that Onigumo was indeed a black-hearted bandit. He asked about the Shikon no Tama, saying that it could grant one wish to whoever holds it. I never told Kikyou about this."

Miya nodded, encouraging Kaede to continue. '_Onigumo is the bandit that Kagome was talking about._'

"But Onigumo is only one side of the story. Kikyou also met a hanyou named Inuyasha around this same time. Kikyou never confirmed my suspicions but I have always suspected that the two were in love. Therefore, it came as a great surprise to the both of us that Inuyasha stole the Shikon no Tama. Kikyou was mortally injured in the attempt of retrieving it but managed to subdue Inuyasha by sealing him to the Goshinboku. She gave me the jewel to burn with her body before dying, and Inuyasha has remained there to this day."

Kaede was silent then, caught up in the past. Miya was caught up in the rush of memories that Kaede was experiencing but didn't react. She simply let them flow over her so she could understand their past better. Kagome had explained but she hadn't had the memories. Kaede did.

For the moment, the two simply sat there in silence, lost in memories.

* * *

Miya stood in front of the Goshinboku, arms folded across her chest and at a loss of what to do about Inuyasha, who hadn't even responded to her loudest yell or strongest mind-shout. Kagome hadn't told her either, having dropped the story right after finding the well and falling into it to arrive in feudal Japan.

Still, she had to admit that the hanyou looked extremely peaceful despite the fact that he was pinned to the tree with an arrow. She'd never seen him look like that in the week she'd known him. But then, it hadn't been the best time for relaxing either with Kagome missing and an evil wraith king on their heels.

"What do I do?" she murmured, sitting down right there. "Nothing is as it should be and I can't figure out why. But it _has_ to have something to do with the incident in the curtain." Miya was silent for a few moments, thinking about her dilemma. "Should I get Kagome? I know that she's beyond the Bone Eater's Well and in the future."

After further thought, she decided to do just this. With one last look at the sleeping Inuyasha, she made her way to the Bone Eater's Well, arriving in only a minute. It looked so innocent… Miya went to the side and leaned against it, looking into the depths. She could see bones lying on the bottom, which explained the name.

'_No one ever really explained how the well got its name. It can't just have been random chance._'

Miya frowned, her mouth setting into a determined line. Without another thought to her safety or anything else, she jumped over the side and plunged into the darkness. Just before she hit the bottom she did a twisting motion with her hands and the sand parted under her, forming a hole where she slipped through.

The moment she crept through the well's spell and left the feudal era she found herself in empty darkness. But it wasn't quite so empty to her mind. She could feel that the magic of the world between the worlds was heavy here.

'_What if the weird twisting had something to do with Kagome not being attacked by that youkai and dragged into the feudal era? The heavy scent of the world between the worlds here certainly means that it had something to do with what happened._'

Miya was broken out of her thoughts by a sudden shifting of the dark. The weightless feeling she was growing accustomed to vanished and she found herself on rough sand. She felt the ground under her knees and a little further groping revealed the bones that she'd seen when looking into the well. So…they'd come with her, too.

The young woman got to her feet and looked up out of the well. It was pitch black in the well. Miya jumped out of the well, crashing into a barrier on the way. She landed on the ground again, looking up again, faintly annoyed.

"Terrific," she groused, her left hand clasping her right's wrist. Her hand was open and faced towards the cover blocking the well's opening. A terrific force burst from her palm and splintered the wood, sending it showering down on the young woman in the well.

The barrier gone now, Miya jumped out easily, bending the air around her to support her body weight. Her feet landed on the side of the well and she remained crouched, quickly taking in her new surroundings. It was still faintly dark but not so much because of the cracks in the doors to the well house.

Miya got off the well and climbed up the steps, sliding open the doors she was met with. Bright sunlight assaulted her eyes and Miya found herself squinting. A couple of blinks later and her sight returned to normal. The scene before her was perfectly ordinary. Somewhere to her right was the Goshinboku with only a scar marking the trunk. This surprised Miya. Shouldn't Inuyasha have been on it?

'_But then,_' she mused, '_this is Japan five hundred years in the future. If Inuyasha isn't on there it means something must have happened to him. Either Naraku got to him or I managed to get the gang together. I sincerely hope it's the latter._'

Miya closed the doors behind her and stepped away from the well house, approaching the Goshinboku as she did so. The house behind her was quiet and a clock somewhere in the distance tolled two chimes. Kagome must have still been in school.

'_It doesn't mean I can't introduce myself to her mother._' A small smile crossing her face at that, Miya went up to the house, fully intending on making a great impression on Kagome's mother.

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**Several hours earlier in modern Japan…**

"Buyo!" Kagome called, stepping down into the well house. "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty!"

"I don't think Buyo will come out if you call him like that," Souta, Kagome's little brother, said, crouching by the steps.

"Yeah, yeah." Kagome ducked under the steps and found their cat hiding there. "Buyo! Come on out now. You're not supposed to be in here."

"Found him?" Souta got up from his position as Kagome came out with Buyo in her arms.

"Yep." Kagome let Buyo go once outside the small house. She knuckled Souta in the head. "You should pay better attention to him next time."

"Ow!" Souta wiggled away from her hand. "Shouldn't you be heading to school now?"

Kagome looked freaked out. "Yipes!" She sped off into the distance, calling over her shoulder, "See ya, Souta!"

"Bye." Souta waved, slightly disconcerted.

In the meantime, Kagome made it to school by the skin of her teeth, greeted her friends, and made it through the rest of the school day without much incident. She was approached for a date by Hojo for tomorrow but declined it on account of it being her birthday. The date was instead set for the weekend and they would be seeing a movie.

'_Well, time to go home._' Kagome waved goodbye to her friends, ascending the steps to her house as she did so. '_I hate homework._'

Used to climbing the hundreds of steps, Kagome made it to her house in no time at all. She opened the door, took off her shoes, and called, "I'm home, Mom!"

"In the kitchen, sweetie!" was the reply.

Kagome entered the kitchen and was about to drop her bag when she noticed the strange girl sitting at the table and sipping tea. The black-haired girl caught her eye and winked, smiling all the while.

"Hello, Kagome," Mrs. Higurashi said. "How was school?"

"It was uneventful," Kagome responded, sitting down at the table. "Who's the guest?"

"You don't know her, Kagome?" Mrs. Higurashi turned from the sink and the dish she was drying. "She was a friend in middle school and was in Tokyo when deciding to drop by."

"My name's Miya," the girl said, smiling at Kagome. Her blue eyes were sparkling knowingly. "You might not remember me since it's been a while."

Kagome was at a loss for what to do. She really didn't have the faintest idea who Miya was and couldn't recall a single classmate going by the name either. But she didn't want to appear rude either. Instead, she offered a weak smile in return and accepted the small snack her mother offered her.

"I'm gonna go up and do some homework," Kagome said, not intending to ignore Miya but doing it nonetheless. The strange girl simply smiled again and took another sip of her drink.

"I'll call you down when dinner is ready," Mrs. Higurashi said.

"Okay, Mom." Kagome picked up her bag, inclined her head in Miya's direction, and, still wondering about the strange girl, went up to her room.

* * *

Miya sighed, watching Kagome go up. It was worse than she had thought. She had hoped that Kagome would at least get a feeling of déjà vu or something but even that hadn't happened. It was as if everything had been erased. The only she could do was try and guide everyone back together again. Perhaps then they could come to a solution about the situation.

"I'm sorry about her behavior," Mrs. Higurashi apologized. "The high school she goes to really gives them a lot of homework."

"It's no problem." Miya brushed it off. "I didn't expect her to recognize me anyway. It's been too long. I think I'll just go up and keep her company. I'll keep quiet, I promise," she assured Mrs. Higurashi. "Thanks for the tea."

"You're welcome."

Miya climbed up the steps to Kagome's room, knocking once before opening the door. Her friend had turned around at the sound and was staring at Miya.

'_Great,_' Kagome's thought flitted through Miya's head. '_I don't even know her. What do I say?_'

Kagome smiled—rather stiffly, Miya thought—and said, "I'm really sorry but I have no clue who you are. I don't even remember a girl who was called Miya."

"It's fine. I tend to make that impression on people," Miya said, sitting down on Kagome's bed. Her knife was in plain view.

Kagome blinked upon seeing it. "Wow. Nice…dagger."

Miya smiled. "Thanks. It was a gift."

That prompted another thought from Kagome. '_Who gives a dagger as a gift to a girl?_'

Miya couldn't help but smile even wider at that thought. '_Why, my grandfather from a different world, of course._' She inserted that thought into Kagome's head, waiting to see the other girl's reaction.

Kagome frowned and shook her head quickly. "Did you say something?"

"No." Miya leaned against the wall, resting her head on her interlaced fingers.

"Oh. Thought I heard something." Kagome drifted off into indiscernible mutters.

Miya shrugged and drifted off into her own thoughts, thinking about what to do. '_Just talking to her won't yield anything. She'll kick me out thinking I'm insane. The best shot I've got is to get her into the well and get her into feudal Japan. What happens there will happen._'

Her eyes roved over Kagome's body, who was now doing her math homework. She frowned slightly. Something was different about her friend. '_What is it? Some kind of aura? It certainly wasn't there when I saw her last. But then, nothing is the same._'

Studying the slight shine Kagome had around her body, especially around her abdomen, Miya resolved to figure out what it was later. She had too much to deal with it at the moment to worry about another thing. At least the headache was no longer an issue. Whatever it was had vanished as soon as the mist had finished its weird twisting.

When Kagome looked over to Miya from the corner of her eye, she saw the girl chewing the inside of her mouth, a glazed look in her blue eyes. In fact, now that she thought about that, Miya's entire outfit was blue with the exception of her red sneakers. They were eye-popping with white on them. The sheath her dagger in it was black with scratches in it. It had obviously seen some fights, which disconcerted the young woman.

A brief smile crossed Miya's face and Kagome found herself being watched by the visitor. Her gray eyes snapped back to her homework, her face red. '_She saw me!_'

"Do you have a well house on the property?" Miya asked, swinging her legs back and forth.

"Yeah." Kagome leaned back in her chair. "Why?"

"Do you think you could show it to me if it's possible? I've always been interested in old stuff like that."

"I don't see why not." Kagome got up from her seat. "Come on."

Hiding a smile, Miya followed her friend to the well house. Kagome slid the doors open and let Miya in first.

"You can see that it's not much," Kagome said, following the black-haired girl inside.

"Why are there bones inside the well?" Miya knew full well why they were in there but she had to ask.

Kagome frowned. "That's odd. There should have been a cover." She noticed the remnants of them around the well. "Now that's _really_ odd."

"What is?"

"The cover's been broken." Kagome picked up a piece. "What could've done this?"

"The thing that left the bones in here?" Miya suggested, not wanting this to go much further.

"Bones?" Kagome leaned in, looking for them.

'_Now!_' Miya stepped back and pushed Kagome over into the well. She jumped over at the same time, compressing the air around her to catch up to the falling fifteen-year-old.

Kagome was screaming and grabbed Miya's wrist, glaring at her accusingly. "_Why?!_ I'm gonna break my—aagh!"

Instead of colliding with the bottom of the well, Kagome felt weightless. She opened her eyes to find them in darkness.

"Where are we?" Kagome demanded Miya, still clutching the other girl's wrist.

"You'll find out," Miya assured her, waiting for the journey to be over.

Kagome was about to demand an answer again when gravity returned and the two landed on the bottom of the Bone Eater's Well five hundred years in the past. Her gray eyes widened when she saw the open sky above their heads.

She whirled to Miya and snapped, "You better explain what you just did and fast! Why did you push me into the well?"

Miya sighed, not looking forward to the explanation at all. '_Now comes the hard part._'

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**I hope this seemed realistic. I don't think Miya is a Mary Sue but I don't know. She IS flawed. A Mary Sue would know exactly what to do; she doesn't. She just knows how to fight and can read minds.**

**Thanks to _Half-Demon Cali_ for reviewing the last chapter. I apologize for taking so long. (smiles sheepishly)**


	3. Explanations

**I AM sorry for taking so long with this chapter. I just kept getting stuck at the last bit of this chapter. The next one should hopefully be easier but I can't promise a fast update. The length of the chapters should increase as I delve more into the story.  
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**Let me know if you catch any grammatical inconsistencies and whatnot. Thanks!  
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**DISCLAIMER: I don't own _InuYasha_, but Miya is mine.  
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**Chapter 3: Explanations**

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_ She whirled to Miya and snapped, "You better explain what you just did and fast! Why did you push me into the well?"_

_ Miya sighed, not looking forward to the explanation at all. '__**Now comes the hard part.**__'_

"I'll explain if you'll be patient," Miya said, trying to calm Kagome down.

"You better," Kagome said threateningly.

"First, let's get out of the well. You'll understand better then."

"Why?" Kagome demanded.

"What I have to explain will sound crazy unless I have evidence," Miya answered.

"What kind of sane person pushes another into a dry well without any forewarning?" Kagome's gray eyes bore into Miya's blue ones.

'_Yipes. So this is Kagome's temper._' Miya smiled rather nervously, suddenly feeling edgy. '_It scares even me._'

Kagome's eyes drifted to something behind Miya, something flashing through them. Was it fear? Miya couldn't tell because her friend's mind was quiet. She could probe it but that would be very rude. All she did know was that she was feeling _very _edgy. As if something bad was going to happen.

'_It's not Kagome's temper._' Miya frowned, thinking. Kagome's eyes were still looking behind her. '_Is it something behind me?_' Miya slowly turned her head, not wanting to know what was there.

Her eyes widened upon seeing a half-formed centipede hovering above their heads, creating a gigantic shadow. But it was no ordinary centipede. It was a youkai.

Miya whirled around, drawing out her dagger. '_How could I not notice the shadow?!_' She glanced back at Kagome, who seemed petrified. '_Not good. If I remember correctly, this is the same one who dragged Kagome down the well._'

"I can feel my powers returning," the woman's head on the centipede purred. Her hungry eyes landed on the two girls. "Which one of you has it? Which one of you has the Shikon no Tama?"

Miya's eyes widened. '_The Shikon no Tama?! But…I don't have it. Which means_'—she looked at Kagome, registering the strange aura again—"_…which means she has it!_'

She rose to her full height, holding the dagger out threateningly. The blade gleamed silver, revealing inscribed symbols in a foreign language.

"It doesn't matter which one of us has it," Miya said coldly, staring the youkai down. "You're not getting it either way."

"Do you mean to say _you_ have it?!" Kagome burst out.

Miya looked back just as the youkai lunged. "Give it to me! Give me the Shikon no Tama!"

Miya moved, but she moved too slowly. The centipede got her left shoulder, gouging out what seemed like a large chunk. The youkai missed Kagome because Miya moved her to the side with a quick hand movement.

"Argh!" Miya resisted clutching her shoulder, which was bleeding heavily. Instead, her grip on the dagger tightened. "You're not getting rid of me that easily," she promised through gritted teeth.

"Miya!" Kagome was on her feet now, hands fluttering over Miya's injured shoulder. She wasn't sure what to do.

"Get out of here, Kagome!" Miya ordered.

Kagome looked around frantically but couldn't find the ladder. "How? There's no ladder!"

Miya frantically waved her hand, lifting a very surprised Kagome out of the well. Just as she did this, the youkai dove for Kagome. Miya brought up her other hand, wincing as her shoulder protested, creating a mental shield that the youkai bounced off.

"You shall not get into my way!" the centipede shrieked, changing its trajectory and aiming for Miya.

"I've heard that before!" Miya threw her weapon into the youkai's forehead.

It sunk in straight up to the hilt, the skin around it sizzling. The youkai reared up against the side of the well, shrieking in agony. Miya summoned her dagger, the hilt fitting easily into her right hand.

The moment the dagger drew out of its skin the youkai fell to the ground, nearly squashing Miya. The girl had pressed herself against the other side of the well, biting back a cry of pain as her shoulder throbbed.

"Miya!" Kagome looked down to see a very dead youkai with Miya practically on top of it. "Do you need help?"

Miya looked up, smiling through a grimace of pain. "Be fine!" was all she could say.

Even though Kagome looked like she would prefer to object, Miya silenced her by easily jumping up and onto the wooden frame. She wobbled for a moment before practically falling down and collapsing against the well.

"So…I guess you're not fine after all," Kagome said, raising an eyebrow.

"I'll be fine after I rest a bit," Miya promised.

"Oh no, you're not." Kagome adamantly shook her head. "You're going straight to a hospital with that shoulder of yours."

"I don't suppose you've noticed where we are?"

"Of course! We're right outside…the well…" Kagome trailed off, finally taking in her strange surroundings. She seemed in shock as she didn't say anything.

Miya waited for a moment before breaking the silence. "As you can see, we're not exactly in Tokyo anymore. Although, this will be your city's future site."

Kagome got to her feet and glared angrily at Miya. "Where are we?" she demanded.

Miya opened her mouth but then shut it, a grimace distorting her features. Her shoulder had just given a violent throb.

"The questions can wait," Miya managed to say. "I need to get to Kaede."

"Kaede?"

"I'll show you to her. Help me up, will you? My legs are rather shaky."

"Don't think you're getting out of answering my questions."

"Of course not."

* * *

"What a grievous wound." Kaede finished bandaging Miya's shoulder. "What matter of beast inflicted this?"

"A youkai with the body of a centipede and the torso of a woman," Miya replied.

Kaede said nothing. Only a slight narrowing of her remaining eye betrayed any emotion.

"It was after something called the Shikon no Tama," Kagome said. "It seemed to think that one of us had it." Her eyes went to Miya, signaling what she thought of who had it.

"And apparently neither of us did," Miya said, calmly rebutting Kagome's unspoken accusation. To Kaede: "Thanks. It feels a lot better now."

"How did you not pass out from blood loss?" Kagome asked. "Or even pain?"

Miya shrugged. "I might tell you later. In the meantime, I brought you to Kaede so she can bring you up to speed."

"Bring her up to speed?" Kaede blinked slowly, confused, in the middle of clearing away her healing herbs. "Speed to what exactly?"

Miya smiled apologetically. "Sorry, Kaede. Could you perhaps take a closer look at Kagome?"

Kaede glanced at Kagome inquisitively, still slightly confused. "What do ye mean, child?"

Miya darted over to Kagome and held her hair back, copying what she could remember from Kaede's memories about Kikyou's hairstyle. "Doesn't she look familiar at all?"

"My word…" Kaede pressed her face close to Kagome. "She looks exactly like Kikyou."

"Eh?" Kagome leaned backwards against Miya in an effort to get away from Kaede. "Who's Kikyou?"

"She was Kaede's older sister," Miya replied, letting Kagome's hair down. "You're her reincarnation."

Kagome looked dumbfounded. "…Huh?" was the most intelligible thing she said.

"How can ye be so sure that she is Kikyou's reincarnation?" Kaede inquired. "She looks almost identical to my elder sister yet she is not her."

"Of course she isn't Kikyou. I know because she told me so herself."

Kagome sprang to her feet. "I did no such thing!"

"Sure you did." Miya stood up, too, using her height as an advantage to stare Kagome straight in the eyes; she was a full two centimeters taller. "You just don't remember."

She focused the memory of Kagome telling her everything straight into her friend's mind. The sudden overload of information made Kagome stumble backwards, her face strangely blank. She fell down on her butt, staring ahead into space.

"What did ye do?" Kaede took Kagome's face between her hands; the teenager gave no noticeable response.

Miya knelt down besides the old lady, not looking too worried. "I've never been much for subtlety I'm sorry to say. I could only do it the blunt way."

"Do what?"

"I showed her memory of what she told me. It takes away some explanation if I do it that way." She made a face. "But there are still going to be consequences. Wish I'd thought of them sooner…"

Before Kaede could say a thing more, Kagome's eyes had snapped back into focus; they immediately landed on Miya. A sudden lash of fury made Kaede move backwards, even though the rage was directed at Miya. The other girl reeled back slightly, confused as to why and how Kagome had discovered that it was she who had implanted the memory in her head.

"What. Did. You. Do?" Kagome seethed, accenting each word clearly. "What did you just put into my head? Is that even _possible_? Would you do me the kind favor – and it's not even a favor – of telling what on earth you _are_? You just show up out of nowhere, sell me this cock-and-bull story of me knowing you when I've never seen you before in my life, shove me down a well, and then put something in my head of me telling you something I've never actually _said_?!"

Feeling the rage rolling off of Kagome, Miya swallowed inconspicuously, unsure of how to answer. She did notice Kaede's interest, though. "Let's go outside," she managed to say.

"No." Kagome remained put, her hands clenched into fists. A muscle in her temple was working furiously. "We're staying right here until you tell me everything…starting with who you actually are."

Miya took a deep breath, and adamantly shook her head. "No. What I've got to tell you is for your ears only. Not Kaede's. Sorry about that," she added to the priestess. "It's delicate information."

"Give me one reason why I should listen to you."

"I came back to fix what has gone wrong. Even if it's not my place to play God, I can say that this isn't the way things are supposed to be. I only trust you, Kagome. You and several other people that aren't here right now."

"I should be honored," Kagome said sarcastically. "And yet you've directly avoided my question. Why should I listen to you?"

"Because I'm your friend," Miya said simply.

The simple and truthful way that Miya had said it made Kagome speechless even though her mind was boiling with a dozen hurtful and most likely truthful statements that she could hurl at the girl before her. Yet her eyes showed nothing but honesty and – good intentions? – in them. Kagome couldn't refute her claim because Miya obviously believed that they were friends, even though she hadn't even known the other existed until that day. The scary thing was, whatever Miya had implanted in her head – she somehow just _knew_ it had been Miya – seemed so real and believable that she almost believed that it was an actual memory. Of course it had taken place from Miya's point of view but it had still been so real…

Miya knew the fight was half-won the instant the thought entered Kagome's head. With a respectful nod to Kaede, she left the tiny hut and waited outside the doorframe for Kagome to follow. Then, without another word, she started a path to the woods where Inuyasha lay.

Confused, wary, and silent, Kagome followed, not knowing what awaited her.

* * *

"What…?" Kagome stared at the young man with dog ears who was pinned to the tree. "How…who is he? And why is he pinned to the Goshinboku with an arrow?" She looked around frantically. "And where's my house? Where on earth _are_ we?"

Miya sat down on another tree's roots that were about three feet off the ground. "Now you're the one confusing me. Where do you want me to start?"

Kagome gawked at Inuyasha for another half minute before ripping her eyes off of him and sitting down on a lower branch of the same tree. She was above Miya's head yet right next to her. She felt slightly empowered with the elevation.

"Start with who you are and then go from there," she ordered after a minute's thought.

Miya nodded. "My name's Miya. I didn't lie about that. I also didn't lie about the fact that we know each other. We just don't know each other from school; we met here, in feudal Japan. That's why your house isn't here; it hasn't been built yet."

"How did you manage to put that…that _stuff_ in my head?"

"First of all, how did you know it was me?"

Kagome frowned because of the delay and answered impatiently, "I just knew. I don't know how but I just did."

For some reason, this made Miya smile. This was terrific news. That meant that things weren't lost. Even though Kagome hadn't felt a single twinge of déjà vu upon first seeing Miya, it seemed that her using her powers to push a memory into Kagome's head had triggered something. But she still had to tread extremely cautiously.

"Okay," she finally said. "I'll tell you how. I'll have you know that I'm not some alien. I'm a human with…special abilities. These abilities concern the mind. I can do things that normal humans can't. Such things include telekinesis, a special sort of 'flying' "—she used quotation marks—"and speaking directly into another's mind. In addition to the last, I can hear thoughts as well."

Kagome stared at Miya blankly, not comprehending. "Really."

'_Well, it was better than I could have hoped for,_' Miya admitted to herself. She continued hesitantly, "That's how I pushed that memory into your head. Admittedly, it was a bit crass of me but I didn't have much time to think." She shrugged. "Actually, I haven't really thought anything through."

Kagome glanced back at Inuyasha, who was still slumbering peacefully. "What about him? What's his story?"

Miya smiled. "That's easier to explain. Here in feudal Japan you've got youkais. And with youkais you've also got hanyous. Inuyasha is a hanyou, and a very special one."

"That explains the ears?"

"Yes. I'm not entirely sure of his background"—'_Since I never really got information on that._'—"but I know that his father was a powerful and benevolent youkai."

"What about his mom? Is she still alive?"

Miya shook her head. "From what I know, he's been pinned on that tree for fifty years. Hanyous have a long lifespan, although youkais have been known to live for well over a thousand years. Judging from that, I'd say his mom is dead."

Kagome nodded slowly, her face impassive. "Okay… Now, where do I come in this?"

Wary, Miya decided what to say. Kagome was acting too impassive for her liking, meaning that something was broiling under the surface. Something that might not be healthy for her…

"Well, like I said before, you're my friend. I haven't known you for very long but I know that I can trust you."

"What makes you think I'm your friend?" Kagome asked, her voice emotionless. "What gives you the _right_ to say I'm your friend?"

Miya looked right at her. "You're my friend because I think you are. Even though you don't know me, I know you."

"And _how_ do you know me?"

Miya winced slightly. "Well, see…that's the tough part. And it has everything to do with the place that I now call the bane of my existence."

Kagome leaned forward curiously. "And what place is this?"

"Would you…would you mind if I just gave you the memories of it?" Miya asked tentatively. "It'd be easier than me explaining everything again."

Kagome's face expressed reluctance. "Will it hurt?"

"You might get a headache," Miya admitted, lifting her unhurt shoulder. "But it should pass."

"How can I trust you?" Kagome said warily.

Miya smiled sadly. "You really can't. All I can ask is that you _do_. Trust that I won't intentionally hurt you. This is just the easiest way for me."

The other teen thought it over for a few more moments before slowly nodding. "All right."

Miya sighed, relieved. "Thanks, Kagome. Just this one thing: All these memories are mostly from my viewpoint. There'll be some stuff I picked up from listening to other people but most of it is from me. As a result, you'll find it kind of…cluttered with thoughts." She held out a hand, standing up from her spot on the tree. "Still want to do it?"

Kagome glanced back at the sleeping Inuyasha. "Yeah, why not. It'll at least clear things up. It's not like you can surprise me anymore really. You've already dropped a wallop on me today."

Miya's smile flickered. "Ah…I don't think that was the right word to use…"

"Whatever." Kagome jumped down from her branch. She took Miya's hand. "Just get on with it before I potentially change my mind."

Looking into Kagome's gray eyes, Miya drudged up all the memories she had of their time together, inconsequential and consequential. Then, with as gentle a push as she could manage, Miya inserted it all into Kagome's mind.

Kagome's eyes widened with the influx of memories and thoughts, which were also barraging Miya. Although Miya managed to shunt most of it to the side, Kagome didn't have that particular talent. Therefore, what happened next surprised Miya, even though it shouldn't have.

Her friend collapsed in a heap on the grass, having fainted dead away. Miya blinked at Kagome's prone body, slightly disconcerted. She could get no readings on her friend and had to admit to herself that she was relieved as she didn't want to experience Kagome's pain as her brain processed everything.

'_Still…I really should have expected something like this to happen…_'

* * *

**I hope Kagome's reaction to Miya was all right. If someone just barged into my life claiming that they were my friend and I had never seen them before I wouldn't trust them either.**

**Thanks to _Half-Demon Cali_ for reviewing the last chapter! I hope my random update schedule hasn't put you off or anything...  
**


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